Dr. Elizabeth Searing, University of Texas at Dallas
Dr. Elizabeth Searing
Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management
School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences
University of Texas at Dallas
Resilience and the Management of Nonprofit Organizations: A New Paradigm
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022
‘This book provides valuable insight into how to integrate the concept of resilience into organizational culture and management practices. As we emerge from over two years of the pandemic, the need to lean into core strengths and develop greater expertise is invaluable.’
– Brian Schreiber, JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, US
Few books written for or about nonprofits explicitly target how to prepare for crises. Nonprofits are reliant on donors, regulators, government funders, and dedicated staff and volunteers; in crises, this reliance leaves nonprofits unprepared and vulnerable. This book, co-authored by Elizabeth Searing and NACC Founder Dennis R. Young, fills that gap by examining how nonprofits can prepare for and respond to both mundane and extraordinary threats: pandemics, economic recessions, terrorist attacks, and other potentially catastrophic events.
To manage these risks, Dennis Young and Elizabeth Searing develop multifaceted strategies involving balance sheets, cost and income structures, human resources, networks, technology, entrepreneurship, and information systems. Searing notes that, “in a way, this book captures what nonprofits do every day: make the most of difficult situations. But even when you’re awesome at what it is you do in the community, things can be overwhelming, so the book is designed to help you prepare for those storms ahead of time.”
In the book, managers are offered practical recommendations based on research to assess risk and develop resilience strategies appropriate to their organizations. Plus, the authors elaborate resilience as a new management paradigm for building healthier and more effective nonprofit organizations that includes the use of templates for executive briefings, dashboards, and stress tests.
The subject material and approach fit multiple audiences. Nonprofit managers and trustees, foundations, and government funders can acquire insights and tools on how to develop and manage resilient organizations. Researchers, teachers, and students will gain a greater understanding of how current research drives the resiliency paradigm and how to move research on nonprofit resilience forward.
Dr. Elizabeth A. M. Searing is an Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. Searing’s primary research focus is the financial management of nonprofit and social enterprise organizations, but she also conducts work on comparative social economy more broadly. She is an Associate Editor and editorial board member of Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and an editorial advisory board member at VOLUNTAS and the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management (JPBAFM). Her articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.
Dr. Dennis R. Young is an Emeritus Professor at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University and an Emeritus Professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.